Canaries Government Defends Housing Plans
The Canary Islands’ government today defended its decision to build more social housing, despite the fact that there are more than 18,000 empty or unsold properties in the islands.
The government argues that there is already a scheme to take up some of the slack by purchasing or renting empty property from developers and construction companies.
However, Housing Minister, Inés Rojas, said that as the islands come out of recession, demand will increase and more housing will be needed.
The minister also said that new housing starts were needed to keep alive the islands’ ailing construction industry.
However, critics say that throughout the building bonanza of the last decade, construction companies and developers showed no interest in building less profitable social housing.
But now that times are hard, they say, builders are falling over each other in the rush to get their piece of the action.